“I once entered al-Madinah, visited abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and said to him, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, I have come to you but I have not visited ’Amir al- Mu’minin.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘You have done a bad thing. Were you not one of our followers, I would not have looked at you. Why should you not visit one whom Allah along with the angels visit, the prophets and believers visit?’ I then said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, I did not know that.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘You must take notice that ’Amir al-Mu’minin is more excellent before Allah than all of ’A’immah, ‘Alayhim al-Salam. For him is the reward for their deeds and the degree of excellence is according to the measure of their deeds.’”